Episode 36.11

Nirfut would have stabbed this knight dead with a poisonous needle if he could.

He seriously considered that for a moment.

But he realized what was going on as the council went on and the fact that their mission had already failed. Besides, he understood knight Kaldan's self-destruct was purposely goaded by their enemy. Which means, the end result would have been the same even if Kaldan stayed silent here.

Afterward, Nirfut was utterly powerless to do anything.

Knight Kaldan was restrained and got taken away.

Kusandria, Horkassa and Nirfut were driven out of the council room, back to the guesthouse their lodging. Same with Tendoria.

That Wazrof-related woman likely got named the heiress.

The mission this time was to kill Dopus so Goncourt House would have no successor. Had Zepus who died last year become the family head, they could just manipulate him to raise money, but they never thought Zepus would mess with a depth-walking adventurer and got himself killed.

Hence a new plan to use Kusandria to shake things up and make Don Cospe the heir's guardian.

Additionally, ascertaining Prado's health was another important mission for Nirfut.

Their biggest miscalculation could be said to be Prado's well being. His state was such that he should have died three years ago. But he managed to hang on to dear life, perhaps due to the medic he hired. Then from last year to this year, they found out that he had been receiving that <Healing Hand of Herb Saint>'s Eda's <Recovery>. That <Recovery> is likely <Purification> in reality. Due to all those help, Prado is alive even now.

This is the biggest roadblock.

Doesn't matter how well other plans are going, there's no point to them if Prado isn't dead or incapacitated. All those plans hinge on Prado's life being short.

However, that pressure he showed in the council earlier. That tremendous spirit. He's unlikely dying anytime soon. That's bad.

In fact, one of the orders given by Cassandra was to kill Prado if Nirfut deemed it necessary.

Since their Guardian Don Cospe plan has failed and that Norma woman has been named successor, killing Prado here won't do any good in the Goncourt takeover plan either way.

And yet, what's gonna happen if he goes back without killing Prado.

Forget not bringing back results, they've even made a huge blunder of insulting a knight of Wazrof.

When you actually think about it, Goncourt won't actually hand over knight Kaldan to House of Wazrof. But since knight Jinga is undoubtedly authentic, there's a high chance that this will eventually reach Wazrof's ears in some way.

Just what should he do here.

<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka.com >

After mulling over it, Nirfut chooses to assassinate Prado.

This path has many merits. First of all, Goncourt family members will have a taste of Boldrin's terror. About half of Goncourt family members have ties to Boldrin, it will sweep away any budding idea of betraying Boldrin.

Next, they can prevent Prado's revenge. It's obvious that Dopus's assassination was done by Boldrin. They can't openly dispute it as there is no evidence, but Prado will definitely hound them down through economic means. They could have suppressed it had Don Cospe become the heir's guardian. Being a guardian comes with a lot of perks. But he's not.

And Cassandra who did not have long would be overjoyed. That means a lot to Nirfut.

The other attendant, Hyubert is also a spy and an assassin. They got down from the second floor's window when everyone was asleep. It was the midnight after the funeral and family council. All of them was fast asleep from exhaustion.

Nirfut cast <Concealment> on Hyubert. Nirfut's <Concealment> is on advanced level. Moving around makes your presence tangible, but no memory of your face or clothes would remain on other people until the magic loses its effect.

Nirfut made Hyubert do a diversion in front gate while he slipped in the main building. He got the floor plans memorized in his brain already. He quickly arrived at the family head's room, put the guard to sleep with <Sleep Wand>, sneaked inside and stabbed a poisonous needle on Prado's throat.

Nirfut did not follow the usual procedure this time around. He had mixed a minute dose of Queen Venom in the Flat White Head venom. By doing this the symptoms look the same as Flat White Snake's. But its antivenom won't work. Even Green Potion won't work if not administered right away. Eda the <Purification> user is out of town currently. Prado will absolutely not survive. Nirfut must make sure this assassination succeeds.

He's not taking the needle out. Blood would spill out due to its spot.

And then he heard voices when he was about to get away.

"Jinga. What happened?"

"It seems there is something amiss on the first floor. The night watches on the second and third floors have gone down as well."

"Jinga. Head for grandfather's room!"

"Ma'am."

(Jinga!)

(Why's he here?)

There's an area where family of next head lives in the main building. He thought Norma was there. Or in the guest house.

But thinking again, both floors on the guest houses are full. And Zepus's wife and her children are at the next head's area. Thus it's not surprising to find Norma at the present head's area.